Bonds
by aelysiumb
Summary: A re-telling of the events between Sasuke and Naruto at gates end. Naruto desperately tries to bring Sasuke back but an unwilling Sasuke means an inevitable fight occurs. This will feature their conversation, fight and an original end to the fight.


Bonds

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A re-telling of the events between Sasuke and Naruto at gates end. This will feature their conversations, fight and an original end to the fight.

Anything in italics is the unspoken thought of the characters.

Characters: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke

Chapter 1 - Vermilion Coat

o0o

A waterfall cascades. Two statues stand either side of it; one belonging to the earliest and most powerful leader of the noble fire clan of Uchiha. The other, a statue of a man hailed to have some of the most powerful blood in history –capable of both reshaping the land and bearing life from it – leader of the Senju clan and the Founding Fire of Konohagakure.

Where once, these two factions fought - one yearning for unmatched power, the other fighting for clan and man - a not too dissimilar, new fight takes place. This fight is much further after, not quite as spectacular nor quite as defining, but nonetheless, just as important.

A blue eyed boy with ashen blonde hair stands looking at his friend. Or at least, he had thought they were friends. But he had abandoned his country, his team mates and most hurtful of all, he had abandoned the boy.

With a glazed look in his eye, his friend turns to face the ashen boy as he slowly uncoils from a basket - hair glistening black in the dull, grey sky. The transformation complete, his aura felt different. The ashen boy grits his teeth; saddened.

"Sasuke, where are you going? To Orochimaru? What do you think he will offer you? Power? But in exchange for what? Your mind? Your body? Your soul? You would go that far just for revenge? Is revenge really worth all that? Is your life really worth that little?"

"Don't joke with me, Naruto! What do you know about me? How could you know anything about me? You go on about bonds, about friendship, about being loyal to your country but… what do you know about any of those? Huh?"

The blue eyes flash with hurt at the comment.

"Did you have friends? Did you know friendship? Did you know family? When has the country ever even cared about you? All they've done is despise you. How can you lecture me about any of these, when everything you know is based on nothing but your own fantasies and wishes?"

With a sigh, the ashen boy lowers his gaze. _Everything he says is true._ But at the same time he thought; _But I can't let him go_?

"You're right, I may not know much about those things. I may never have even had a true friendship with you. Maybe the bridge of bonds I thought we had, were only built on my side. Maybe, everyone still hates me in the village. Maybe… maybe I don't understand you. But-"

"But nothing! You never had friendships to lose. You never had family to see die. You never had a whole clan to perish before your eyes, powerless to do anything. I saw all this and I saw it all by one who should have protected me from it. I'd follow Izanami_1_ to Yomi_2_ if it meant I get want I want. This life… simply lives for no other purpose than my revenge. It is autonomous, seeking to fulfil its single purpose and only that. I don't have time to play friends with you. Don't try to talk to me about something you have no idea about, so shut up NARUTO!"

He lunges. His eyes seem to spiral into red - 3 comma like symbols appear, evenly spread around; etching the lining of the inner pupil. With thundering speed, his fist crashes into the side of the blonde haired boy's face. He flies off the statue of the Founding Fire and submerges into the water at the bottom of the falls.

The red-eyed boy jumps down, his feet aglow with a blue light, landing gently upon the water's surface, only causing the smallest of ripples. A series of hand signs:

Monkey – Dragon – Rat – Bird – Ox – Snake –Dog –Tiger - Monkey.

His left hand in a tight grasp, upturned and gripped by the arm in his right hand - a bright light starts to manifest. This light soon gives sound. A cacophony - a cacophony of birds erupts and fills the valley. Sparks fly, lances of thunder protrude and relax from the centre of the light in his hand. He swings his arm back and as lisp as a snake, launches into a run.

_You're really serious about this, aren't you Sasuke? Was I really wrong to have thought we were friends?_

He limply floats back to the surface, watching his friend prepare to attack him. Getting up, the ashen boy laments all the while casting hand signs himself. A single person beside him appears from a cloud of smoke; an exact duplicate. Right hand held to the side, gaze never avert from his charging friend, the clone starts to form a ball of light in his hand. Soon he is holding a writhing blue ball, of what seems like a swirl of energy. The clone disappears in the same cloud it appeared.

Teeth bared, he also charges. The two locked in a stare, the grips unrelenting, their wills adamant – in the instant before they clash, it seems like time slows down - if only for a second, they both seemed to regret it had come to this.

"RASENGAN!" – "CHIDORI!"

A white flash - their jutsu silently collide, before erupting into a thundering whirlwind. The waters thrash as they en-circle the pair, billowing out in waves. A piercing light between them and their determination unyielding; neither get an inch over the other. Eventually, the core of energy between them collapses in on itself, just before exploding, sending them flying outwards, below the surface of the water.

_What is this Sasuke? That move was set to kill me. If I hadn't gone all out on that Rasengan, I would have been killed. Is this what your revenge means to you_? A tear blurs his vision; he raises a hand to hide the emotion.

_If this is what your revenge is - if this is where it takes you…_

A black shape leaps out of the water, landing in a gasp. The blonde boy again floats to the top, as if lost in a daze. Looking up at the sky, the blonde haired boy seems to speak to himself. "I wasn't really sure what I was going to do when I chased you all the way out here. I was afraid I was just being a hypocrite. I was afraid I was just being selfish. After all, I really don't understand you feelings or your loss. Neither do I want you back for unselfish reasons. But, if to save a friend from his own demise is to be selfish, then I guess my name is Uzumaki Selfish! Yea, I may never have had bonds to lose and despair over to begin with, but now that I have started to form them, I understand some of your hate and anguish…But damn it! I don't want to lose this feeling..." The last sentence half choked.

_If this is what your revenge is - if this is where it takes you…_

"What feeling would this be then, Naruto?" A sneer on his face and disgust in his eyes.

_If this revenge is the cause of you having to break these bonds…_

Bubbling. Bubbles start to exude from the ashen boy's skin. Suddenly turning towards his former friend, an unfamiliar snarl on his face, he desperately shouts, "It's the feeling of losing someone! Ironically, it probably doesn't make sense to you. You already gave in to your despair, accepted death as a matter of fact - hence why you're steeped in sadness and treat your life as nothing. I don't want to ever stop feeling like I've lost you because that would mean that this friendship - and our bonds - were never truly real. But this ache in my heart, is proof… proof of our genuine bonds! You may be a genius and I may be an idiot but, this I know for sure - no matter how much you deny it!"

…_then I will free you of it!_

A wind rises from the ashen boy's feet. The water parts in a ring around him. His clenched teeth elongate. A power emanates from him, not his usual blue light but a much deeper, more intense light. He seems to be shrouded in a cloak of it. Vermilion. He is shrouded in a vermilion coat, a tail slowly effervescing from it. Incisors elongate into fang like teeth, spiky blonde hair stands on straggled end and as his ears grow pointed, the vermilion mimics this; extending into long, flowing ears of a deep rouge. He looks feral - more wild. Like a fox.

_Is this really Naruto?_

"Oi Sasuke! I may be selfish. And yes, I may not fully understand you. But, these bonds are anything but selfish. I don't know why… I don't know why but… I cannot help but charge at you! Because I know, only then... Until you are beaten, no - until you lay beaten... Only until I also lay beaten from this… Only then may I understand your pain, and only then may you understand my ache! They say ninja of certain calibre can understand each other just from the meeting of their fists. So I'll come at you, Sasuke. I'll come at you with everything! Feel the full brunt of my fist, and I'll take yours. Maybe then, these bonds will reach each other. Only then, can our bonds truly bridge!" Eyes glistening with tears and the familiar blue of his eyes faded to a deep crimson, the boy crouches down on all fours – a wild animal in anticipation of a pounce.

The tears evaporate in the seething intensity of the vermilion, the boy screams and the waters around him thunder in agreement; "So let's get going Sasuke! I'll bring you back to your senses if it's the last thing I do, even if I have to break you!" The air around him seems heavy, his expression completely changed. His lips black and his verytical eyes focused. He homes in on the foe he once called friend. The foe he still wants to call friend. Any hesitation in his eyes is gone.

A sweat drips from the black mane down to his chin. His body feeling light but his heart heavy, he answers;

"Tsk... I'll acknowledge you as a equal. So come with everything you've got, so I can destroy that bridge completely, Naruto!" _Why would you go so far for me Naruto? Does this bond mean so much to you?..._

0o0

End of Chapter 1

1) Izanami – Izanami no Mikoto was one of the original 2 deities along with Izanagi no Mikoto who created the Japanese archipelago. After Izanami died, she went to Yomi where she consumed its food and become a horrible Spector of the underworld and death.

2) Yomi – One of the realms of the afterlife. The land of the dead. Like the Greek world of Hades.


End file.
